Hardball Talk says Hamels “decided to open his big mouth after his outing.”

The Outside Corner calls out Hamels on his logic behind the decision to plunk Harper while Big League Stew is still trying to figure out the thought process, referring to Hamels as a Jedi at one point. Eye on Baseball also notes that Harper laughed the whole thing off and said “It’s all good.” Of course, Harper would later come around to steal home on Hamels, so that may have been part of his thinking when discussing it afterward.

As I said earlier, I would have absolutely no problem with Hamels being served a suspension in which he would miss one start. He admitted to going after a player and that should guarantee a suspension. Hamels even loses out on any chance of an appeal because he willingly said he threw at a baseball player.

Expect Hamels to learn of a suspension this week, which means the Phillies will need to plug in Kyle Kendrick for at least one more start. Cliff Lee is expected to return for his next start, removing the need for Kendrick on the mound for that.

Yesterday in the NL East

Phillies 9, Nationals 3

Mets 3, Diamondbacks 1

Braves 7, Rockies 2

Marlins 6, Padres 3

Updated NL East Standings

18-10 Nationals

18-11 Braves (0.5 GB)

15-13 Mets (3.0 GB)

14-14 Marlins (4.0 GB)

14-15 Phillies (4.5 GB)

Elsewhere…

The Washington Nationals did confirm that former Phillies right fielder Jayson Werth suffered a broken wrist during last night’s game. No timeframe has been released yet but a broken wrist usually needs to be in a cast for six weeks, minimum. Don’t be surprised if Werth is out of action for six to eight weeks.